Stallman vs. Reality

The trouble with Richard Stallman's arguments they are based on ideals without accounting for the reality of how people need or even want to use software and information. Stallman has been at the same tired old argument of what he views to be freedom in regards to software for decades and still doesn't seem to understand that his ideals for free software do a lot to restrict the freedoms of users and developers.

The reason why Windows, OS X, and proprietary software titles are so popular because they enable most people to do the things they want to do. That's the end of the debate really, and that is why Stallman frequently finds himself tilting at windmills. Most people don't and wouldn't benefit from the kind of freedom he is defending.

Most people would be at a severe disadvantage if they migrated to a completely free operating system and completely free software for that system. They wouldn't be able to do much of what they want to do without learning to develop software themselves. At the very least they would be facing a substantial learning curve in using their computer in a different way then they are accustomed to.

This kind of freedom is Stallman preaches is meaningless when it's freedom people either don't need or are unlikely to take advantage of. Sure, to a hacker or developer that wants the right to alter and redistribute any part of a system they see fit it is great, but how many people really fall into that category?

The truth is that many developers don't even take advantage of that kind of freedom. Most people wont ever need or want access to alter almost all of an operating system or program. Most people just want it to work. How many computer users actually want or need the abiltiy to hack the entire system?

Stallman's complete freedom argument is  almost completely pointless when faced with the reality of people users that don't need or benefit from it.  People have had years and years to migrate to completely free GNU/Linux systems and overwhelmingly, they choose Winows, OS X, Android, Ubuntu, etc...

Stallman is an extremist defending principles which for most users are completely useless. They don't need to hack their systems and they don't want to and they shouldn't have to.  There is nothing wrong if people want to buy software and let professionals handle the details when need be. There is nothing wrong with free software and people that want to do it themselves either, but expecting all software to fall in the latter category is silly. Especially since all users don't.

Ubuntu isn't a solution to Windows 10 privacy concerns.

I realize that there are real privacy concerns and that some people have their own perfectly valid reasons for disabling search and advertising functions in software. This article isn't directed at them. I am speaking to the nut-jobs out there that believe in every software conspiracy they read online and mistakenly think living under a rock is possible let alone a good move. I have seen a lot of these types declare their intentions to jump ship over Windows 10 start using Linux.

If you have decided to wear a tin foil hat and succumb to all the FUD over Windows 10 you may be considering a jump to Ubuntu.

If you’re new to Linux or to Ubuntu,you may not realize that Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly on privacy concerns and that Linux isn't a magic cure all for your paranoia. You might be shocked to learn that just like Microsoft Windows, you have to actually lift a finger and make some changes if you are concerned.

If you are over the top paranoid about privacy and don't use any cloud services you may want to disable online search from the dash. Anything you type in the dash could be recorded and sent to Canonical for use by Canonical and its partners. Now obviously it is anonymous data used for improving services and or advertising, but those in the tin foil hat brigade will argue otherwise. There is nothing nefarious or evil about it and the practice is clearly spelled out in the licensing agreement, but per usual there are nutty bloggers out there that confuse a practice allowed by a licensing agreement with actual coded software behavior or actual practices of the company. There is a difference between a license provision that allows for data collection and a huge nefarious plot to watch your every move and tattle to authorities, but people write up whatever gets them advertising revenue, not what actually happens.

Canonical, in a purely evil attempt to actually bring in funding and OMG, support further development, added shopping suggestions for Amazon to the dash. If you are convinced that you are being forced to shop at Amazon.com every time you use the dash you may want to disable the feature. From a terminal, type: sudo apt-get remove unity-webapps-common.

What I have mentioned here are just the top two privacy concerns using Ubuntu. There is a list as long as what you can compile for Windows 10 and just like with Windows 10 it is all easily mitigated with a little bit of education and some simple configuration. There are many good reasons to use Linux, Windows 10 privacy concerns isn't one of them.